June 4th, 2010
Pinot Gris or, "The False Friend", as Olivier Humbrecht labelled it when he came to New Zealand to speak at the Aromatics symposium a couple of years ago. Certainly the white grape-du-jour of New Zealand in the past few years with a huge increase in plantings and subsequent new wines on the market. However we seem to be heading down the same path that we have with Riesling in that its very difficult to know exactly what style of Gris you are getting ...
June 2nd, 2010
Or have I just discovered a new planet? Or could it be a disco ball? What is it?
Despite its 3D effect it is in fact a picture I took today as I was racking some white wine from one tank to another. Close to the bottom of the tank and with only my torchlight to guide me this spherical new world ...
May 27th, 2010
From this picture you can see in a nutshell the process I go through when pressing the Pinot Noir skins here at Sandihurst Winery. The fermenter holds around 1.5 tonnes of grapes. Once fermentation is finished the skins gradually start to sink to the bottom of the vat. With regular tasting I make the call on when the wine ...
May 26th, 2010
What's new in the world of Wine Gift ideas? Not only can you buy wine from our Sandihurst online shop, now you too can have this season's must have gift - your very own pair of Wine Socks. Modelled on our winemakers own feet, they come in two styles - 'CENTRAL OTAGO PINOT NOIR' (as seen above) or 'WAIPARA RIESLING'. Wine Socks extend all the way to the knee ...
May 21st, 2010
Looking into the future....heres the picture from this coming Sunday afternoon, around 4pm, when the last grapes for the Sandihurst 2010 harvest have been picked. Sadly the weather forecast isnt all that great so the smiles above may not be quite as wide....
May 17th, 2010
This week Ive been racking the 2009 Central Otago Pinot Noir and Waipara Pinot Noir out of barrel and into various tanks, each group of tanks resembling the final composition for the two different regions. 2009 looks to be a very very good year. Im sure most other producers will agree. It is at least as good as ...
May 16th, 2010
A little action from the grape harvest in Waipara over the weekend. A fine day and a harvest crew who masquerade as an operatic choir proved to be an irresistable mix. Not only were the grapes coaxed off the vine to the sounds of Madam Butterfly and the like, the choir, who all hail from Taiwan, brought out their own chef who set up his woks and rice cooker for a midday feast. It was a brilliant day all round. Encore!
May 14th, 2010
Heres a Poetic reminder to all those people out there content to continue consuming cheap. mass market, homogeneous wines without personality. TRY SOMETHING NEW, BE ADVENTUROUS, TAKE A RISK - YOU WILL BE REWARDED...
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN...
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the ...
May 10th, 2010
Ive decided to inoculate half of this years Central Otago Pinot Noir and let the other half 'go wild'. So heres a shot of the yeast bursting back into life from their freeze dried state. You just add them to a little warm water (35-40C) and some sugar (in the form of grape juice) and it doesnt take long for them to get active. Once ...
May 9th, 2010
Busy time of year this. Not only is the 2010 harvest in full swing, it is also the time to start assembling the 2009 Pinot Noirs. Bottling date is scheduled for around 4 weeks time so I need to start sniffing, swirling and spitting my way through all of the barrels to get and idea about the final blend of each wine. Also ...
A native of Christchurch, and a curious wanderer of distant shores, Kirk’s talent for beautiful wines can, at least in part, be attributed to his dark decade in chartered accountancy. There, amongst the spreadsheets, columns and rows, Kirk is said to have developed the finely-tuned attention to detail he was later to apply to Sandihurst’s advantage.
It was following a culturally eye-opening period in Europe and Asia that Kirk experienced the moment of truth that was to drive him to abandon his pinstripes and retrain. He had tasted life, French pastries and dim sum and now he wanted more. So, roll up his neatly pressed sleeves he did. Enlightened and decidedly un-accountant-like, Kirk then took his new-found talents to California and Germany’s Pfalz where he refined his vinous skills and gained further invaluable experience. And a family. Finally, and after several happy years, the lure of New Zealand proved too strong to resist, and Kirk returned home and into the veritable arms of Sandihurst Winery.
Artist and alchemist, whilst Kirk’s Mr Nice Guy persona belies a dry wit and wicked laugh, his genius knows only modesty. When he declares his wine to be “okay”, it’s time to bank another medal.
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